While we aren't going to claim benchmarks are any kind of end-all measurement for real-world performance, there's little denying many people take a lot of stock in such utilities when purchasing a new device. The new Nexus 7, which is now packing basically the same chip as the Nexus 4, should provide a major performance boost over its Tegra 3 predecessor. But just how much of a boost? Google quantified it as 1.8x CPU performance, and 4x GPU performance. Let's see what the popular holistic benchmarking app Geekbench 2 has to say about that, along with the memory benchmark Androbench.

Geekbench 2

Below, you'll see the overall scores and integer, floating point, memory, and stream category breakdowns for the two N7s. On the left is the old Tegra 3 N7, on the right is the new Qualcomm S4 Pro N7. (Note: it says the Qualcomm version is Tegra 3, it's not. Geekbench just hasn't updated the device profile.)

The new N7 near as makes no difference doubles the score of the original, particularly running away with it in the memory and stream subscores. The new N7 nearly triples the stream score of the 2012 version, and more than doubles its memory score. No real surprise there - the original Nexus 7 has long been maligned for its poor RAM and internal storage performance. See the additional screenshots below for a more detailed breakdown in individual categories. Again, the new Nexus 7 is on the right, the old on the left.

Integer Performance

Floating Point Performance

Stream Performance

I ran Geekbench 2 on the older Nexus 7 on both Android 4.2 and 4.3, and the results were basically the same. 4.3 imparted no performance improvements over 4.2 (in fact, 4.3 was negligibly slower). Finally, here's how each device sits on the Geekbench 2 comparison page.

Androbench

This is what we're all probably more interested in: has the new Nexus 7 been given the speedy internal storage the original so desperately needed? I think the results in Androbench speak for themselves.

The new Nexus 7 is nearly five times faster on sequential reads, 2x faster on random reads, and about 1.5x faster on both sequential and random write operations. SQLite performance appears around double that of the first gen N7, as well. That sounds promising.

Take all of these numbers for what they are, though: numbers. Real-world performance is very difficult to quantify, and it's hard to say based on a few bar graphs and speed tests just how much faster the new Nexus 7 will feel than its predecessor. Given that it's running basically the same chipset as the very smooth Nexus 4 (albeit at a higher resolution), I'm pretty hopeful. We'll have to wait until the reviews and user reports start pouring in to be sure, though.

so lets turn the n7 into the old n4 with a different resolution? who would have thunk it? the n4 runs everything better than my n7 so why not. i always thought the 1gb of ram held it back while opening large files just due to ram. hopefully no more stutter or lag while opening those huge school books!

lewishnl

It is a little more than just a Nexus 4 with a different screen resolution. it's bigger, has an LTE model.

Jdban

So since the N7's issue is that over time the drive degrades, were you running on a brand new N7 or an old one?

Wait what the hell? I remember getting about 2100 on my Nexus 4 on 4.2. Looks like Google has done some shit. I'm gonna retest soon. Either that or the governor and hotplug controls are less conservative on the Nexus 7.

There's much more surface area to act as a heatsink, so less thermal throttling is necessary. I'm sure there are other reasons that could be at play here, too, but that was my first thought.

Stacey Liu

Well I ran it a couple times and my results are around 2280. The average on Geekbench for 4.2 N4s seems to be 2105. I don't think thermal throttling is causing the disparity here. Geekbench is a short test and it takes a while to hit the temperature limit. I disabled throttling on the device altogether and the scores are no different.

What's interesting though is that most of the individual scores are in line with the N4, except memory, which is much higher (2500 vs 1600). Maybe Google opted for LPDDR3 instead of LPDDR2. They would need it anyway, because memory bandwidth would bottleneck graphics performance at 1920x1200.

Also, you guys switched the old vs. new images for some of the categories.

G3Sidhu

My N7 is really smooth on 4.3 !!

nerds

how do these compare to last years N10?

tvchris

My N10, running AOKP, gets 2505.

Misti curia

My n4 running sabermod and faux get 2750 biatch :)

Jordan Long

which OS is the 2012 Nexus on? 4.2.2 (or earlier)? or 4.3? that would be a better comparison.

Andrew Hime

That's answered in the article.

mlj11

One question that I don't think I've seen answered definitively anywhere - where, ability-wise, does the Snapdragon S4 Pro SOC fit along the spectrum of the newer 400, 600 and 800 chips?

Andrei

The 600 is just a little bit faster than the S4 Pro. I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference without any benchmark or system info app.

mlj11

Thanks a lot, but if you don't mind could you tell me what information / source your answer is derived from?

Ha ha, very funny and mature. Didn't expect an answer life this from AP staff, especially since a lot of the articles here are about modding, though not really in the sense of taking devices apart. Still, tho...
And AFAIK, play store for devices isn't available everywhere yet. If it was, I'd get a nexus 4 on the cheap, not like all these carriers here that want 600€+ for one.

If god created itself ,how can it have a mother ? Is it itself a mother to it? It is its own parent ? Notice I'm using IT because we can't define god's sex. About that,did it have sex with itself and thus producing itself ? Which means god doesn't hate same-sex sexual intercourse. Does it like chicken or is it vegetarian ? Am I drunk or just stoned ? No stoning please

Yes, I know the Moto X only has a dual-core version of S4 Pro, but benchmarks have shown that it actually beats the Nexus 4 slightly (possibly due to its slightly higher clock speed.) And, that brings me to one observation: Why are people so mad about the CPU in the Moto X, but nobody seems to mind the Nexus 7 being at just about the same speed?

Floss

Nexus 7 = $230. Moto X is aimed to be a high end phone, which usually are over $600.

deadpenguins

Have you been following the Moto X at all? It's going to be very affordable, probably $300-350.

According to the most respected leakers. Unless all of the leaked specs are wrong (highly unlikely) , there is absolutely no justification for a $600+ price tag. It would make the device DOA. As much as I love some good, old fashioned condescension, I'm not some fanboy blabbering nonsense. I'm just using a little common sense.

FritoDorito

Can I get a link to these respected leakers? Just because we have a very likely set of specs, doesn't mean you can just assume the price. What are the rumored specs? 720p AMOLED screen, Moto X8 SoC (it WAS a dual core S4 Pro, but it appears that probably isn't right), 2,200 mAh battery, 2 GB RAM, 4.7" screen, 10 MP "ClearPixel" camera, crapload of sensors...any specs sound familiar? Most of these are either close or equal to the Droid Ultra. How much does the Droid Ultra cost again? Not to mention the extra cost of the X being assembled in America and the customization options, plus the tons of sensors.

What makes you think this will be DOA? The RAM is on par with current flagships, the processor pulled in some Snapdragon 600 level scores, the camera looks to be quite advanced, and the battery has been a constant focus on this device; I can easily see it crushing every other phone on the market when it comes to battery life. You can bitch about specs all you want, but it's been proven time and time again that it's the experience that matters to average customers, not specs, and the focus on this device appears to be on the experience. Just the few videos of the new Droids that I've seen run smoother than the current spec juggernaut, the Galaxy S 4, which lags like a bitch even with industry leading specs.

didibus

I just remember reading a quote from a Google employee saying the Moto X is their mid-range, and a high end would follow it later on. Might be wrong, can't remember where I read that.

MindFever

I agree with your reasoning. also,i don't understand why you got so many down votes

Can you run some OpenGL tests. I am concerned that the new Nexus 7 will suffer like the Nexus 10 in having the GPU be underpowered once it pushes all those pixels for an HD screen.
Will it maintain 60 FPS, or higher, in nenamark 2? for example

wronger

some of the images are on the wrong side, look at the clock.

integer & fp performance e.g.

Heon Jun Park

More and more I read these stuff... I cannot wait till I get mine in near future...
TAKE MY MONEY....

JD

The floating point and integer pictures are accidentally swapped within the article

Stefan Constantinescu

SunSpider?

marijan stojcevski

Are you sure you didn't mixed up Floating point/Integrer benchmarks? the new N7v2 is on left?